What is the true width of the Milky Way galaxy?

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The true width of the Milky Way galaxy is not commonly discussed, with more focus on its diameter. The galaxy consists of a thin disk and a thick disk, both of which are not uniform and become more diffuse as one moves away from the galactic plane. The concept of 'scale height' indicates the height at which star density decreases significantly, but there are no definitive edges. Additionally, the galactic halo surrounds the Milky Way, contributing to its overall structure but also being highly diffuse. Understanding the thickness of the galaxy is largely a matter of convention and depends on the specific definitions used.
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I was wondering that we always see the diameter of milky way but no one talks about its width. Even on google it is not there. This means that if I go up instead of forward then I would be out of milky in an instant?
 
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It is there, if you know where to look:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thin_disk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thick_disk
It's important to note that these are not uniform structures. That is, they get more diffuse the higher above/below the plane bisecting the Milky Way you go, with no sharp edges telling you where they end. The 'scale height' given in those articles is the height above the plane at which the density of stars goes down by the (somewhat arbitrarily chosen) factor of roughly 3.
Then there's the galactic halo, surrounding the entire Galaxy, which is highly diffuse in terms of stellar population. The point being, the 'thickness' of a galaxy (much like its radius) can depend on what precisely do you mean by it. I.e., it's a convention.
 
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UC Berkely, December 16, 2025 https://news.berkeley.edu/2025/12/16/whats-powering-these-mysterious-bright-blue-cosmic-flashes-astronomers-find-a-clue/ AT 2024wpp, a luminous fast blue optical transient, or LFBOT, is the bright blue spot at the upper right edge of its host galaxy, which is 1.1 billion light-years from Earth in (or near) a galaxy far, far away. Such objects are very bright (obiously) and very energetic. The article indicates that AT 2024wpp had a peak luminosity of 2-4 x...

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